Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.

Wednesday, August 02, 2017

The Sky This Week - Thursday August 3 to Thursday August 10

The Full Moon is Tuesday, August 8, and a partial Lunar eclipse occurs at this time. Mercury climbs higher above Regulus. Jupiter and the
bright star Spica are nearby in the evening sky.
Saturn is visible all night in the
heart of the Milky Way and is close to the Moon on August 3. Venus
dominates the morning sky below the head of Taurus the
Bull.

The Full Moon is Tuesday, August 8, and a partial Lunar eclipse occurs in the early morning.

Morning sky on Tuesday, August 8 looking west as seen from
Adelaide at 03:51 ACST. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen). Note the darkening of the edge of the Moon.

After a significant break (no umbra eclipses since 2015)lunar eclipses are back, Augusts Lunar eclipse is a fairly shallow partial eclipse occurring early in the morning.

Evening sky on Saturday August 5 looking west as seen from Adelaide at
18:34 ACST (60 minutes after sunset). Mercury is high above the western horizon.

Mercury
climbs higher in the evening twilight sky. It is now readily visible
above the western horizon half an hour after
sunset, and is obvious 90 minutes after sunset. Mercury climbs away from the bright star Regulus. By the end of the week Regulus sets well before Mercury.

Evening sky on Saturday August 5 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide
at
19:04 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is above the
horizon between the bright star Spica and the relatively bright star
Porrima. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Jupiter on Saturday at this time.

Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). (click to embiggen).

Jupiter is rising before sunset and is now high above the northern-western
horizon in the
early evening at full dark. It is in between the bright star Spica, the
brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, and the relatively bright
star Porrima. Jupiter is now almost between Porrima and Spica.

Opposition, when Jupiter is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth,
was on April the 8th. Jupiter is rising before the sun sets and is
visible until just before midnight. Jupiter is a good telescopic target
from astronomical twilight on, and the dance of its Moons is visible
even in binoculars. The following Jupiter events are in AEST.

Evening sky on Thursday August 3 looking north as seen from Adelaide at
20:50 ACST, when Saturn is at its highest. Saturn is almost overhead
high
above the northern horizon. The Moon is just below Saturn.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).

Saturn was at opposition on the 15th, when it was biggest and brightest in
the sky as seen from earth. Saturn is visible all night long. Saturn is a
good telescopic target from 9 pm on. It is poised above the dark rifts
in the Milky Way and is in a good area for binocular hunting. It
continues to climb into the evening skies as the week progresses.
Saturn's rings are visible even in small telescopes and are always good
to view.

The constellation of Scorpio is a good guide to locating Saturn. The
distinctive curl of Scorpio is easy to see above the north-eastern
to northern horizon, locate the bright red star, Antares, and the look below that
towards the horizon, the next bright object is Saturn.

Morning sky on Saturday August 5 looking east as seen from Adelaide at
6:10 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise). Venus is dazzling below the
bright star Aldebaran and forms a triangle with Aldebaran and Betelguese. The inset shows the
telescopic view of Venus at this time.

Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local
time (that is 60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Venus is lowering in the morning sky and is visible in telescopes as a
"Gibbous Moon". At the start of the Week Venus forms a triangle with Aldebaran and Beteguese.